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Quinoa and spinach salad with smoked paprika vinaigrette

The first Monday of the month means it is time for our secret recipe club reveal. I always look forward to sharing my recipe choice with the group. Keeping a secret for a month, sneaking around your assigned blog, looking for inspiration is fun but sharing your creation with the others and finding out what the person who was assigned to my blog made is the part I love the most.

My assignment for March was Melissa’s blog, a fit and spicy life. Melissa describes herself as a “30 something, food loving, weight lifting, traveling, yogi blogger and FitFluential Ambassador living in the Twin Cities.” She is a marketing manager by day,food blogger by night and weekend.Melissa has 2 sweet dogs she calls her family and on her blog she shares recipes, fitness tips and a little about her life in the Twin cities.

I loved going through her archives, as always that is the best part of any Secret recipe club challenge. Choosing just one recipe is always a problem, I usually bookmark a few, share them with the kids and together we choose THE ONE!

This time around, I had a nasty flu, I was coughing and sneezing all day long and all I could think of was, something healthy, loaded with nutrients, colorful to cheer me up and loaded with flavor. I saw Melissa’s quinoa and spinach salad with smoked paprika vinaigrette and made it on the spot!

Melissa says that this recipe is one of the most popular on her blog and I can totally see why. The salad is a beautiful balance of colors and textures, filling without being overwhelming.

Quinoa and spinach salad with smoked paprika vinaigrette

Ingredients:

1 cups quinoa, rinsed and drained

1 1/4 cups water for cooking the quinoa

2 cups (packed) baby spinach leaves

1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

1 unpeeled cucumber, cut into small cubes

1tomato cut into cubes or a few grape tomatoes

1/2 cup (packed) fresh mint leaves

1 cup coarsely crumbled feta cheese

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

Juice of half a lemon (2 tablespoons)

2 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika

1/2 cup olive oil

Directions:

You can find a detailed post on how to cook quinoa with FAQ about its benefits here

Place quinoa in large pot

Add enough 1 and 1/4 cups of water,bring to a boil then reduce the heat to medium-low; cover and simmer until quinoa absorbs the water completely (15 to 16 minutes).

Turn off the heat, allow it to rest covered for 10 minutes then fluff with a fork. Allow to cool

This type of salad is definitely in my top ten, particularly with the feta. Add a poached egg on top and I’m in heaven! I’d have to cut down the smoked paprika a lot as there is someone who doesn’t care for it (I am surprised that the kids liked it) but the cider vinegar is a winner. I might even heat the vinegar so that the spinach wilts a bit. It’s gorgeous.
I’d love to see some pics of your new life in Dubai. I think of you often in how difficult it must have been to leave your family.